MasterAssistant

I don't intend to press the point regarding lack of overmap content too much (the two posts above do a good job of covering that), but since the EE ship is supposed by design to avoid interacting with the Horizon that leaves it stuck in a position which it can't fully exploit right now. However the idea itself actually has a lot of potential - more non-SCC affiliated civilian ships are good because it also gives other off-ships something to lurk around. For example the SSMD Recon Corvette protecting EE science assets, given the two share similar loyalties. Since they are supposed to be conducting research, they will also drag around their escorts and potentially hit up even more off-ships/away sites. That said, we should map some more stationary "rally points" IMO. For example, the People's Space Station for the Tajaran sectors of space, or more recently the stranded survivors PR I've seen, which incentivize ships to both levitate towards them and then interact with one-another. Derelicts don't have that much to do besides looting and clearing them, so once you're done with them there's not really any incentive to stick around, and given their repetitive factor some people just won't seek them out at all and try to go straight for the Horizon or lurk about. Overall? EE research ship - great potential, heavily dependent on execution. I would love to see them act as the missing link between other off-ships, but they may also rely on other ships themselves for interaction. Perhaps implementing some different spawn budget methods (for example adding a variable to every ship to see if they are SCC/Sol/Non-Aligned and then rolling to see how many of X/Y/Z ships are allotted), or a hub station-type away site, etc. Maybe this is a bit demanding or idealistic, since ultimately, like everything in SS13, things rely on who you're playing with, but I do think that mixing things up for off-ships will help them find that sweet spot which is often lacking.

I agree that smaller events aren't a silver bullet to all the issues we have, but I think it'd build a better culture towards resolving it. Even if not every single character engages in these events, the ones that do will at least spread some of the effect to the ones that don't. Additionally, with more Command or general player initiative in using in-game systems (like the Newscaster feed, in-game player briefings, or potentially using the noticeboards, although I am unsure if we have the persistent ones here) and the Relay/Forums (the SCC bulletin & the IC forum threads) it'd further compensate for those who missed it while also taking some of the workload off of staff. Sure, this is a bit idealistic but the end-goal here should be furthering player engagement. (and even if what I just stated doesn't pan out as I'd envision it - 30 to 50 players is still a noticeable amount of people for one small-scale event!) I didn't intend to come off as if we should have daily events - this is entirely implausible, of course, I'm just saying we should have smaller ones more often. However, to address the off-ship point: I do actually agree that they should play a bigger part in the scarcity, however this may be hard to reflect without making things too punishing gameplay-wise. While perhaps stripping them of even more gear should be considered, personally I would prefer first and foremost if we added in more non-military themed ships. Right now there's only really 3-4 away ships that aren't part of the armed forces of some faction, which makes RPing slightly difficult, given that there's not a whole lot of vessels which one could reasonably interact it. Why would the SFA/FSF, in these current conditions, ever interact with the Horizon, or with another armed vessel, besides engaging them? Sure, this view is a bit simplistic and I'm certain there are some examples against it, but it does make things feel more tense. If we had something like habitats, nation-specific civilian/merchant vessels, more corporate vessels etc. I feel it would go well in making affairs go smoother, as well as giving ships that already exist a reason to pick on smaller prey, try to establish zones of control, or simply chill out and trade. Personally, I'm working on an IAC ship, but since there's been a trend on the thread to ask for community involvement I'd also advise others to think of what they like and if not work on it, then at least propose it to someone.

A lot of issues have been covered on this thread with takes that I generally find agreeable, and while I have comments about the nature of how this next event may play out, I agree it'd be too disruptive to the server to cancel it right now. With that out of the way, I would like to address something I see as a recurring issue with Aurora lore & events in general: the lack of worldbuilding. I'm aware this may sound odd, but allow me to explain. Lore articles and the wiki pages. They're great sources of information for making a character and all, don't get me wrong - but they have one obvious issue, which is that they're not in the game. As such, the most an already-established char can do with this information is at most comment on it, which just makes them a more-or-less passive observer. Lore articles are great for pushing a narrative forward, don't get me wrong, but they're not great making chars feel its impact. Take as example the articles Cael listed out: I'm fairly certain that most characters which were present in that period and are still present to this day are barely affected by these news, which is extremely underwhelming. I mean, shit, Bluespace Gates at the threat of being shut down? Vaurca being possibly forced to starve to death because Phoron needs to be siphoned off for other uses? That should have a massive impact in terms of what's going on ICly, and yet things felt rather blunted. Why, I ask? Simple: Again, these things are not happening in the game. Getting players involved in on the crisis would make it significantly more impactful. Imagine an event where a refugee caravan passed by the Horizon, a colony begged for emergency Phoron supplies to keep the bare minimum they have left intact, a busy juncture of merchant ships awaiting the re-opening of the Gates and a hell of a lot more ideas. Given the wonderful technical implementations of events so far, and also considering that what's presented here has, at least in part, a good amount of assets already coded in (Orion/Civilian station, civilian freighter etc.) it would probably also be faster to schedule and implement these "mini-event arcs" as I'd like to call them. Touching on event arcs, I would like to point out another issues on the macro-scale of things, which is that I feel there has been prior (and as such there is a risk in the future) imbalance when it comes to the way events and articles are plotted out. The original ass-beating of the SFA, while huge, didn't really have player involvement and resulted in some feeling disappointed with how it was concluded. This then spurred on (or was at least part of spurring on) this arc, which people now feel has the Horizon too involved and in on the front-line of things. I'm not psionic, so I cannot read how the lore writers are feeling at this point, but in my opinion it's fairly reasonable there are frustrations on their side as well. Reading what an entire player-base wants is more than difficult, and as someone who has been in a similar position for a server of ill-repute before, I sympathize with staff here. However, from what I've personally gathered here, I don't feel that people hate the idea of ship-to-ship combat itself, or the fact that high-adrenaline events exist, but rather the balancing between them. There hasn't been a whole lot of the mini-event/in-game worldbuilding stuff which I described above, and where it has come up, it's been mostly via player action (notably using off-ships, which are another great avenue for this - I'll expand on this later if needed). I have read that there's plans for smaller, species-focused event arcs in the next 6-8 months, which, y'know, great! But I don't think that addresses the core issue - people do want to interact with the big, overarching narrative of Aurora, but they do not always want to do it right where the action is happening. Sometimes bigger isn't better, hell, sometimes smaller is better. Overall, I think the smaller, more uninvolved aspects of lore should be brought up and portrayed in-game more often, without necessarily needing the big grandiose implementation of past arcs. Many spaceship-based video games exist that I could draw a parallel to for the Horizon - to draw upon the good old classic, Faster Than Light: that game has an insanely large amount of background/non-combat events, things you'd reasonably interact with on the day-to-day travels of a ship on a mission, like merchants, construction sites, caravans, stations, etc., and all of them reflected the wider state the Galaxy was in, with an impending climactic battle between the evil anti-xeno Rebel forces vs. the good guy Federation. The Horizon isn't this, but the lessons that we can learn from this are still relevant: for every big, important battle arc that the Horizon has to face, there's a dozen other mundane or regular events which nonetheless are essential to the game's flow. Hell, the player's ship in that game was a military cruiser-class vessel and they still had a ton of interactions with the civilian side of the world. That's my two cents on this whole affair. I'm aware I may have gotten a bit off-track with everything, but at the rate this thread is going I honestly think that's fine - I just wish to express what I see as a systematic problem whose roots weren't sufficiently pointed out. Again, no ill-will to the lore team, the staff, or anyone else on this thread - I am commenting here because I think it's critical to the future of the server, and because, admittedly, I've often sat back and commented from the sidelines, which isn't fair to anyone. Have a good one.

BYOND Key: Nope63 Character Names: More well-known chars include Derrick Mens (retired), Arwa Nixon (retired), Valeria Zhao, Victoria Parker, Viera Tadeusz, Marko Folliero and Edythe Knight (blown up by a space-time singularity). Full list below: https://imgur.com/a/I6JbF2B Species you are applying to play: IPC Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Duh. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question. Why do you wish to play this specific race: On a personal level, I find myself interested in the concept of generally non-organic intelligence/sentience - beings that have a capacity to think as much as we do, but in/via a different manner. IPCs are probably the peak of this in SS13, with Aurora synth lore perfectly exemplifying the debate as to whether or not a sufficiently advanced machine intelligence is actually sentient, or merely mimics it. Additionally, via their various factions and their general social status, IPCs are in a position for unique interactions with their colleagues or superiors, and the social/economic pressures of simply existing as an IPC are something I find gives enormous character potential. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: The most fundamental difference of IPCs from humans (or most other species for that matter) is the way they experience thoughts and reactions - given the nature of their “brain”, they are significantly more well-calculated in making decisions that may lead humans to irrationality, with the only varying factor being the social effort they make to portray their decisions as more/less humane, depending on the directives, programming, mission and capabilities of the positronic (for example, a customer service Shell attempting to display emotion to reassure or empathize with a human, as opposed to a security/military G2 simply continuing onwards with whatever task they had). Additionally, their grim social situation, where IPCs can be wiped, reset or simply scrapped at the will of a company or state makes RPing as an IPC be much more consequential than playing a human, which may have more leeway for mistakes or goofy actions. With their strong sense of self-preservation, IPC characters can be both very calculated yet also impulsive when the situation requires them to be. Character Name: Z.I. Krahe Please provide a short backstory for this character: Produced in 2455 at a ConTec robotics facility on Earth, around Eastern Europe, Z.I. Krahe is a Zavodskoi Shell security unit, at the time equipped with the latest advances in positronic hardware technology, with the role of enhancing its machine-learning capabilities, allowing it to rapidly adapt and use work experience to improve itself, as well as to understand more nuanced topics and behaviour, permitting it to better integrate into a team and, in general, human society. Following the completion of orientation, Z.I. Krahe would work on various Zavodskoi assignments within the Sol system, primarily as high-profile security for corporate facilities, such as the Tolyatti headquarters (before its abandonment) or the weapons testing facilities in Gagaringrad, as well as any temporary assignments such as contracting for the government or as escort duty. Due to its (at the time) advanced capabilities, it excelled in its corporate reports and frequently ended up on more prestigious assignments, and benefitted from an increase in material conditions. However, as time went on and the next iterations of Shell frames as well as positronic intelligences were produced, Krahe’s technological edge started to slip, with newer models gradually replacing the earliest Shell types, their ever-more enhanced processing capability, extensive modularity and exponentially larger datapacks to choose from making the Z.I. look more and more obsolete. With the Phoron Crisis initially having an economic effect on all corporations, it looked like the Shell may be sold off in cost-cutting efforts, but with the economic rebound of Zavodskoi and subsequent rise in profits, followed by the creation of the SCC, the losses in the Solarian job market could be compensated for - Krahe’s employment (and by extension, its existence as it knows it) was saved, but only by cosmic circumstances. With the drawdown from multiple Solarian facilities, the unit was reassigned to the Tau Ceti sector, and while the posts it was stationed at varied in quality, the roles it served - primarily supporting, rather than operating by itself - reflect upon the unit’s age and the shift in how it is seen by the company. Its assignment on the Horizon is now a chance for it to prove its mettle once again, as such a mission can make or break a career. Due to their nearly decade-long existence, Krahe has had significant time to integrate into human society and subsequently absorb its constant stream of media, news, literature, video games, trends and the like. Their understanding of how a human behaves, while fundamentally limited by its nature, is rather deep. While it is more than capable of maintaining the quiet, consummate professionalism that so many Z.I. units are marketed for, it also has a deeper social understanding - and while it doesn’t necessarily try to mimic emotions more than any other unit of its type, it does have enhanced sense when perceiving them. Given the above factors, Krahe is, on the surface, a stoic and respectful machine which permanently attempts to carry out its orders to the greatest extent. However, with those who it has spent significant time in the field with and has rated as “trustworthy” or “friendly”, it will bond with them and attempt to further understand them, in part due to self-interest (as being seen favorably by organics tends to be a plus during reviews) and in part due to its desire for further knowledge. It will also attempt to impress and please people wherever possible, maintaining a high level of competitiveness to stay relevant - especially against newer IPC models, which it sees as an indirect threat to its existence. While it would never sabotage company operations or another unit, it would perhaps exhibit what a human may describe as “bitterness” - largely due to acknowledging the innate superiority they have over itself. What do you like about this character? I feel that by playing a somewhat experienced, aged Shell, I can better enjoy the nuance of an IPC char - still robotical in nature, yet with a vast amount of knowledge, relatively dated by cutting-edge standards, yet still capable to carry out its duties - struggling to satisfy their monthly quotas while receiving less and less attention due to their diminished role, ultimately a preservation-driven attempt to not be stamped out in the same manner its predecessors were. How would you rate your role-playing ability? Honestly, 9/10. I think I’ve improved significantly compared to my past years of roleplay (which has had the unfortunate side-effect of me cringing at myself more and more often), and though I don’t always take the initiative myself or perhaps trip up a bit, I believe I handle well in most encounters. Notes: None in specific. Signalis is a kick-ass robot game though y’all should play it.

BYOND Key: Nope63 Total Ban Length: Permanent Banning staff member's Key: MattAtlas Reason of Ban: Reason for Appeal: I am appealing this ban because it is an IP ban; the ckey in question which was banned is that of my brother's, who took it upon himself to make an account and join on (what I suspect was) the same round I was playing while I was sleep-deprived. I can assure that he won't be playing on Aurora anymore as he does not in fact actively play SS13 and only aims to grief me when he does; I have since changed his password and deactivated the account, so that he will not be able to re-log on it. Apologies to staff for having to tend to such a petty issue.

sol won boys. ggez wp

BYOND Key: Nope63 Staff BYOND Key: ReadThisNamePlease Game ID: Unknown. Date on which the incident occured however will be included in image link. Reason for complaint: Contesting a warning for something that I wasn't aware was actually unsolved. I believe this is because of miscommunication, as the admin present at the time, Prate, was AFK, and I was not aware that a second admin had joined the round due to my inability to log on or even boot up my PC because of the adverse weather that took down my power grid. I hadn't maintained contact with CookieJarvis during this besides me asking him to ahelp for cryo, to which he responded that, once again, Prate was AFK and hence there was nothing to be done. Evidence/logs/etc: for the warning itself; as evidence from the my DM's with Jarvis at the time. Additional remarks: N/A

Absolute security/medical/service/anything gamer, would love to see them and their chars into command positions as well. They RP great, handle situations well, can't find anything bad to say about them. 10/10 would +1 again.

BYOND key: Nope63 Character names: Derrick Mens -- Main and literally only played char, Gardener/Former Sec Arwa Nixon -- Planned char, Sol Liaison/Diplomat Valeria Zhao -- Secondary char to not get bored and be more active, Warden +2 deleted chars, not played for months How long have you been playing on Aurora?: ~1 year, give or take a month or two Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: Mainly because I want to take some initiative in RPing, as well as help create new relations. Why did you come to Aurora?: I came to Aurora after getting bored with Bay and it's codebase and wanted to try something different. I saw Aurora as the only other high-pop HRP server and decided to join, and ever since (with a few minor or not breaks) I've been playing here. Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?: Duh. Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? As far as I'm aware, I only have a few notes on my records thanks to beginner mistakes/edgy comments. (because I'm too much of a coward to play antag) Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each. Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about: In my opinion, roleplay is about immersing one's self in a fictional/alternate universe, generally under a fictional character different from real life. It's about having fun by emulating what you feel your character would do, talking to people and finding out their own stories, etc. What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: Mainly assuming lead of their respective department, co-ordinating with other Heads of Staff and the Captain to ensure smooth operation of the station, set goals for their workers, socialize with them, incentivize them and try to spice things up in general. On secret rounds, they're supposed to help move the narrative and such along with the antagonists. What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: Generally speaking, Whitelisted players should try to help improve RP standards and teach people game mechanics depending on their positions OOCly, while ICly striving to push their culture/role and doing the best they can to create RP, be it for one person or the entire station. Could you give us the gist of what is currently happening in Tau Ceti and how it affected your character and their career? In the past few years of so, the NanoTrasen Corporation has been consolidating its power and resources in the Republic of Biesel to maintain stability. However, both have become increasingly difficult, as foreign and internal interest groups attempt to get their way, much at NT and Biesel's dismay. In Mendell, recent riots and clashes between police and locals have caused general turmoil, leaving a lasting mark as tensions still remain high even after the stabilization of the area. On the NSS Aurora, one of NT's most well known facilities, more and more incidents take place that seemingly leave the crew numb to their surroundings. Adhomian Tanks, Skrellian Tups and general things you probably wouldn't want in a work place are happening. What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted? Liaison mostly, and possibly HoS or HoP under a different char. Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking.: Arwa Nixon -- Sol Consular Officer, mainly the result of her family's high status on Venus and nepotism. Slightly confused, if not ignorant, but not necessarily incompetent. Tries to keep their high-class status as well as they can while still having some fun. More of a talker than a paperwork type. How would you rate your own roleplaying?: I'd say around 7/10. I'm not perfect and constantly trying to improve my RP, and I have had times where I cringe at my own RP and try to correct it. Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? Yep. I'll try not to get it stripped to the best of my ability. Have you familiarize yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles? Duh. Extra notes: None.

On behalf of everyone currently looking at this thread. No.

As one of the people who has interacted a lot, and I mean, a lot with Jake, I give him my Worthless Dishwasher™ seal of approval. Solid RPer, good understanding of game mechanics and overall a nice face to see whenever I'm playing, I would love to see him in command. +1 from me.

Reporting Personnel: Derrick Mens Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Security Officer Game ID: b4n-cpf6 Personnel Involved: - Nai Qu'Nuuxi, Roboticist - Offender - Todor Bulstrode, Detective - Witness - Marienette, Security Officer (EPMC) - Witness - Azalea Halase, Head of Security - Witness Secondary Witnesses: - Stella Palmero, Crime Scene Investigator (EPMC) - Witnessed the initial warning of Nai Qu'Nuuxi. - Soolux Vushon, Bartender - Witnessed the modifcation done to the bar. Time of Incident: Real Time: 1700 GMT, 24/10/2019 Location of Incident: Multiple - Bar, Robotics Bay Nature of Incident: [ ] - Workplace Hazard [ ] - Accident/Injury [ ] - Destruction of Property [ X ] - Neglect of Duty [ ] - Harassment [ ] - Assault [ X ] - Misconduct [ ] - Other _____ Overview of the Incident: This all began when Nai Qu'Nuuxi, the roboticist for this respective shift, made a modification to the bar (changed some tables and chairs). The bartender - Soolux Vushon - had notified security of this. After a theft committed by the chaplain (which was handled separately, and is not relevant for the IR), security investigated the issue, and found out that the head of personnel - the person who the roboticist claimed had given him permission to make this modifcation - did in fact NOT give permission for this. A verbal warning was applied, and for a while, nothing happened. After the arrival of a few more security personnel, during a standard patrol, me and another officer spotted that some grilles and windows had been made, blocking the robotics bay. Considering the fact that the offender had already been warned about this, a brig sentence was needed. However, the roboticist stalled for time multiple times, before finally complying. Even when at the brig, he stalled my efforts to enforce procedure, by refusing to put his items in the prison locker until after I had repeated several times. At last, I went to handle something, and returned to witness that the roboticist had replaced the standard bed with a stool. He denied any wrong done whatsoever. Did you report it to a Head of Department or IAA? If so, who?: The command staff on-site, the head security and a CMO (unrelated to this case), were informed. Actions taken: Initially a warning was issued, then brig time. Additional Notes: OOC: Round was extended. There was no antag involvement.

...well. First post, and first complaint at the same time. Great start. Sarcasm aside, I was Derrick Mens (Nope63) - one of the cultists this round. I will start of by saying that I did not do anything actually cult-related, considering it was my first cult round. I mainly followed around other cultists. Now, that being said, I'll start off with my conversion. I was on my way to the surface, when an assistant (presumably, the bait) began staring at me, hence I stared back and so an interaction took off. About one or so minute later, Alvin Mildred - a psychologist, and cultist - showed up and went ''hey, I need help over here, please come''. After making a short reply I got instantly stunned by a talisman and then carried to the dorms, where I was forced to convert. This was done with minimal RP, and things appeared similar with other conversions. For example - Genevieve Francois and Leila Alamuddin. They responded to an officer being reportedly kidnapped (once again, a conversion with little to no RP), and Alvin tried to bamboozle them before stunning and converting them as well. After these conversions, we were called into the brig to be interrogated. Obviously, we had no ground to defend ourselves and were shady as fuck, so I'd see why people would doubt us. Just as one of the cultists was about to get charged, I believe someone on our team decided to get their cult gear and start beating the shit out of sec. This, in turn, resulted in the absolute carnage that was security that round, having the majority of the officers killed. Nearing the end of the round, I can confirm Jaydon Lafortune, a cultist officer, began sacrificing people in order to summon Nar'Sie in the chapel, though I don't have anything much else to say. Hope I could help. EDIT: Apparently, sacrifices are not needed. I'm unsure as to why that was done, and considering it with this fact, I see it as extremely poor play/straight up gank to have sacrificed three people in consecutive motion.